Quantitative properties of emotion

[bchen]

Are there certain chemical/physiological signals brought on by emotions that can be measured? If there are, I'd like to know the signals associated with fear, surprise, anger, happiness, sadness, and disgust, with the latter 3, being more complex, optional.

Must specialized instruments be used to measure them? Is it possible to attach these instruments onto crabs, or at the very least, a large invertebrate such as an octopus?

[deleted-42343]

Hi bchen, I'm sorry no one has answered your question yet. I'm not an expert in this area but I think I can still help you.

There are hormones and other chemicals/signals that are associated with those emotions. I don't remember which ones exactly for each emotion, but I'm sure you could search in google and get some answers.

If you project is due on the 17th, I don't think you will have enough time to complete an experiment though. I think you would need advanced equipment, and would most likely need to measure the chemical signals in people or animals blood, which is going to take a lot of paperwork, and a well-equipped lab. Although both crabs and octopus are invertebrates so doing tests on them is theoretically ok, I think time and lack of special equipment is still a factor.

I would try another project if you have less than a week to do the project (and don't have access to a lab with such equipment):

Here are a couple of projects that are related to emotions:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p024.shtml
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p043.shtml

If those don't interest you, try our topic selection wizard or browse through our project ideas, both of which you can find here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... l?From=Tab

We have biology, chemistry, and social science projects if that is what you are interested in.

Good luck and let us know if you have any more questions!

[MelissaB]

Hi,

I agree with Amber; you are going to need specialized equipment that can measure brain chemicals and hormones. Moreover, the hormones and chemicals may be different in mammals and crabs, so you would need to find 'analagous' hormones...something I think a lot of research labs around the country are trying to do right now!

Wikipedia has a great article on emotions, with lots of references that you can look up if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotions .

Since pain and discomfort technically qualify (at least by some schemes) as an emotion, here is a test some friends of mine used to measure pain tolerance in birds: They got hot (NOT scalding, NOT boiling) water at a certain temperature, dipped the bird's toe in the water, and then measured how long it took for the bird to pull its leg up. This was a great assay because they didn't actually need to hurt the animals, but it correlated well physiologically with responses to pain.

So, perhaps you could adapt that assay to use with crabs to see if they can feel pain? Keep in mind that since you would be using animals, you will probably need special forms and permissions--talk to your teacher before you start the experiment!

[bchen]

Thanks for the replies. The project due date I put up was wrong. The PROPOSAL is due on that day, so sorry about all the confusion. I have one last question before I give up on this idea. Does this special equipment exist, and is it obtainable? I really want to do an experiment showing the mental capacity of invertebrates, and it seems like there aren't many other things I can do.

And the analogous thing. Is it possible to contact a scientist working in that field? Perhaps I could incorporate his/her findings into my project?

[MelissaB]

If you really want to do this sort of a project, I would suggest that you try to find a mentor; I could be wrong (this really isn't my field), but I don't think you would be able to get access to machines that could help you measure neurotransmitters or hormones in a high school lab. So, here's a Science Buddies article about finding a mentor: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tors.shtml .

That said, if you are more interested in the mental capacity of invertebrates instead of emotions, have you thought about doing purely behavioral studies? I know, for example, a setup that people have used to see if jumping spiders plan their routes ahead of time; would you be interested in doing something like that with crabs? Or are you really set on doing studies on emotions?

[bchen]

May I have the setup, just in case?

[MelissaB]

Here is the abstract of the paper; you will probably need to talk to your librarian to get the actual paper.

JUMPING SPIDERS MAKE PREDATORY DETOURS REQUIRING MOVEMENT AWAY FROM PREY
Author(s): TARSITANO MS, JACKSON RR
Source: BEHAVIOUR Volume: 131 Pages: 65-73 Part: Part 1-2 Published: NOV 1994
Abstract: The terms ''reversed-route detours'' and ''forward-route detours'' are introduced to distinguish between detours that require moving away from a goal and those that do not. We provide the first evidence under controlled laboratory conditions that salticids can perform reversed-route detours. Two species were tested: 1) Portia fimbriata, a web-invading salticid from Queensland, Australia, that normally preys on web-building spiders; 2) Trite planiceps, an insectivorous cursorial salticid from New Zealand. Although both of these species completed reversed-route detours, Trite planiceps was much more dependent on prey movement than Portia fimbriata. Interspecific differences appear to be related to the different predatory styles of these two salticids.
Document Type: Article
Language: English
KeyWords Plus: PORTIA-FIMBRIATA
Reprint Address: TARSITANO, MS (reprint author), UNIV SUSSEX, SUSSEX CTR NEUROSCI, BRIGHTON BN1 9QG, E SUSSEX ENGLAND
Addresses:
1. UNIV CANTERBURY, DEPT ZOOL, CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
Publisher: E J BRILL, PO BOX 9000, 2300 PA LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS
Subject Category: Behavioral Sciences; Zoology
IDS Number: PZ207
ISSN: 0005-7959

[deleted-42343]

Thanks MelissaB, it sounds like a cool paper.

I found a similar paper by the same authors here (free): http://www.rifters.com/real/articles/Ta ... routes.pdf

I think it is the same topic, but it doesn't look to be the exact paper MelissaB mentioned.